Geelong West coach Scott Frangos will have a pep in his step when the Giants return to training tonight (Monday) following the signings of Alex Blair and Jacson Collins.
Blair returns to West Oval for the first time since 2021 after a three-year stint in his native Tasmania, and Collins has left West’s GFNL section, where he was a former club captain.
Frangos says football boss Andrew Campbell deserves much of the credit for luring Blair back to the club, where he has kicked 106 goals in 61 games.
“‘Soupy” was always in contact with Blairy throughout the year, and we started talking about it a bit more as the season finished and he mentioned he was going to be moving back (to Geelong),” Frangos said.
“So naturally, we wanted him to come play for us, and he was pretty good about it the whole time.
“He was like, “Yeah, if I’m playing footy in Geelong, it’ll be with you guys”, and we were able to work it out.”
Frangos says after 130 games at GFNL level after arriving from Sunraysia ahead of the 2016 season, Collins was keen to take a step back with his footy.
“It’s just good to keep good people at the club,” Frangos said.
“And that’s the whole point of the Giants set up at the moment – guys can step away from playing a higher level, and then they can come back (to the GDFNL) and still stick around the club.”
Collins played both ends of the ground during his time in the GFNL, including kicking 33 goals in 2022.
However, with Blair’s return and Joel Coombes’ arrival, Frangos expects he will start behind the ball.
“He’s happy to play wherever; he’s mentioned that already,” Frangos said.
“He’ll probably be down back, but there’s a chance he could come through the midfield – he’s extremely fit at the moment – or even play up forward.
“It’s a privilege to have guys that can play multiple positions.
“We’re just going to do whatever’s best for team balance with him.”
The signings of Blair, Collins and Coombes are part of a fruitful off-season for Geelong West, which escaped the wooden spoon with a final-round win over Corio last year.
Other new faces include the returning Ted Walliss (Caramut), former GFNL Giants Jye Bohm and Alex Buckwell, Jarra Blackney-Noter (Dennington), Sam Caruso (Torquay), and Harvey Murrant (Grovedale).
X: @krockfootball
